Words Gone Wrong: Proscribed, prescribed, or something

I feel some sympathy for the people who made this mistake:

Successful applicants will have until last mail October 14, 2011 to claim their rebate. Rebates not claimed by that date in the proscribed manner will be forfeited.

(Emphasis mine.)

Proscribed, not prescribed. For those unfamiliar with the word, here's a definition of "proscribe", courtesy of the OED:

proscribe: verb [with object]
    forbid, especially by law:
        strikes remained proscribed in the armed forces

Therefore, if you replace proscribed with a synonym, such as forbidden, the last sentence reads:

Rebates not claimed by that date in the forbidden manner will be forfeited.

Oops.

The word they're almost certainly looking for is prescribed. If we again substitute a synonym - say required - we get the much more sensible sentence:

Rebates not claimed by that date in the required manner will be forfeited.

As I said, it's an easy mistake to make. Don't be the sucker who makes it next.

Words Gone Wrong: "and/or" ambiguous

Those who deal with the law quickly become obsessed with words.

One of the move overused words (or is it two words?) is "and/or". Somehow, using it has become a bit of an obsession, with people putting it in anywhere they think possible. This is not always a good thing --- not only does it sound clumsy, but it can occasionally obscure more than it reveals.

Take, for example, this piece of text, from the website of a large Australian bookstore that also sells computers.

Quantity limits apply: one desktop and/or one notebook per academic year.

Is one allowed to buy (a) one desktop and one notebook, for a total of two items; or, (b) one desktop or one notebook, for a total of one item? Either the "and" or the "or" is unnecessary and incorrect, but (short of telepathy) it's impossible to say which one.

The moral of the story is: make sure you're clear on the meaning of your sentence before shoving in an "and/or"!